The present invention relates to a method of placing groups of sheets, particularly banknotes, in cassettes.
The invention finds application to advantage in machines by which banknotes are first ordered into stacks, singly or in bundles, and then loaded into respective cassettes; reference is made directly to this same art field in the following specification, albeit with no limitation in scope implied.
Machines of the type in question consist typically in a plurality of stacking modules with respective formation channels. The banknotes are fed in singly and in succession, examined and sorted according to denomination and/or type, then directed selectively toward respective independent outlets afforded by the channels.
In this way stacks of single banknotes are formed at each of the outlets. As the notes accumulate in predetermined numbers, the stacks are picked up and transferred to a release station, then taken from the station by hand and put into relative cassettes designed especially for their secure custody, and for their transportation to banks if envisaged.
Conventional cassettes of the type in question comprise a container, and a lid hinged permanently or detachably to the container. The container is also equipped internally with a device by which the stacked notes placed in the cassette are retained in stable fashion.
Given that the operation of placing the stacks in the cassettes is performed manually in machines of the type outlined above, there will inevitably be an area, coinciding substantially with the station at which the stacks are released, where the process of placing and securing the notes in the respective containers is slowed down, and this in turn clearly affects the profitability of the machine overall by slowing down the entire processing cycle.
One object of the present invention is to provide a machine for the formation of notes into ordered stacks, embodied in such a way that the connection with the cassettes and the operation of placing and securing the stacks in the corresponding container can be fully automated in a simple, effective and economical manner.
The prior art embraces machines in which notes can be stacked at the outlets of the formation channels either individually, as already intimated, or in bundles, already checked and strapped or banded.
A further object of the invention is to provide a machine such as will perform the aforementioned operation automatically and with equal ease whether handling stacks of single notes or stacks of notes in bundles.
The stated objects can be realized, according to the present invention, by adopting a method for placing groups of sheets in cassettes, particularly banknotes emerging from the checking station of a machine comprising a plurality of stacking modules each provided with a respective formation channel along which the notes are directed to form at least one ordered stack of banknotes at an outlet of the channel, substantially parallelepiped in shape with side faces parallel to a stacking axis, wherein the X cassette comprises at least one container.
The method disclosed comprises the steps of taking up successive stacks of banknotes cyclically from each outlet though the agency of pickup and transfer means; transferring each stack to a release and load station; feeding a succession of empty cassettes cyclically and synchronously with the operation of the pickup and transfer means toward an area of substantial proximity to the release and load station; positioning the cassette and the pickup and transfer means one relative to another in such a way as to allow their mutual interaction; placing each successive stack in the relative cassette with the edges of the banknotes resting against the bottom of the container.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a machine for placing groups of banknotes into cassettes, capable of implementing the method disclosed.
The object in question is realized in a machine by which groups of sheets, particularly banknotes, are placed in cassettes, comprising a plurality of stacking modules each provided with a respective formation channel along which banknotes emerging from a checking station are directed in such a manner as to accumulate at an outlet of the channel into at least one ordered stack, substantially parallelepiped in shape and disposed with side faces parallel to a stacking axis, wherein the cassette comprises at least one container.
Such a machine comprises cassette feed means by which empty cassettes are directed in succession into an area of substantial proximity to a release and load station; pickup and transfer means capable of movement sequentially, and synchronously with the cassette feed means, between at least two operating positions including a first position in which the pickup and transfer means take up a stack of banknotes from the single outlet, and a second position in which the stack is directed by the pickup and transfer means toward the release and load station; and positioning means located in substantial proximity to the release and load station, of which the function is to position the cassette relative to the pickup and transfer means in such a manner as will enable the pickup and transfer means, when in the second operating position, to place the relative stack in the empty cassette with the edges of the banknotes resting against the bottom of the container.